OPERATION BARBAROSSA

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. The Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, had traditionally been part of the Allied powers with Britain and France. However, when World War II began in 1939, Germany avoided facing the Soviet Union in battle by agreeing to a non-aggression pact with the country. Yet, after Germany defeated France during the Battle of France and engaged Britain in the Battle of Britain, it turned its attention to the Soviet Union, and in June of 1941 began its invasion of the Soviet Union with a surprise attack.

​Operation Barbarossa

​Operation Barbarossa had its beginnings in the ideas of Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany during World War II. During Hitler's rise to power as the leader of Germany, he wrote an auto-biographical book that detailed his worldview and ideological understanding of the world. In the the book, titled Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), Hitler wrote about his view that Germany required Lebensraum or "living space". Hitler proposed the idea that Germany needed increased farm land and living space in order to promote a growing German population. Hitler saw the Soviet Union as the land he desired for his plan of "living space" and began to carry out Operation Barbarossa.

When the German invasion of the Soviet Union began in June of 1941​ it experienced convincing victories against the weaker Soviet troops. As such, the German forces were able to advance deep into the Soviet Union and captured huge sections of the Ukraine and Poland. German troops pushed forward until their advance was halted on the edge of Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. At this time, Hitler's forces were repelled by a Soviet counter assault and Germany was never again able to push in to the interior of the Soviet Union. Hitler called for further assaults in the region, including the failed Battle of Stalingrad, but Germany continued to struggle against the Soviet defense. Eventually, following a series of losses, Germany was forced out of the Soviet Union and was never able to recover.

​Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa is considered by many historians to be a major turning point in World War II. The German army was rapidly advancing throughout Europe in the years before the operation but was never able to overcome the massive losses of fighting in the Soviet Union. As well, German soldiers struggled to survive in the prolonged Russian winter, while Russian soldiers for better equipped to withstand the cold. After the failure of Operation Barbarossa Germany was never able to recover and suffered continual losses until it was finally defeated in 1944 during the Battle of Berlin.